


Frostbite

by ArtPrinceVie



Series: Children of the Gods [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Add tags as I go, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Author is not Great at Math, Betrayal, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Dubious Morality, Gen, Gratuitous Swearing, I Made Myself Cry, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Manipulation, Not Canon Compliant - The Trials of Apollo, Ohhhh Boy, Original Character(s), POV Original Character, Rate Will Change, Swearing, Teen Angst, The Trials of Apollo Spoilers, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unreliable Narrator, Violence, Whump, a lot of teenage angst, did I mention that?, don't think too much abt the math, let's go, lots of swearing good gods, mentions of characters from other fandoms, no beta we die like that one blond character with glasses and a scar, not accurate math, referenced abuse, teenagers being stupid, that's a lot of angst, whooo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:55:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28021275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtPrinceVie/pseuds/ArtPrinceVie
Summary: The quest for immortality is a tricky one.Many heroes had tried to find it, find a way to be immortal by any means necessary. Now in the 21st Century, thousands of years after, Nero will find a way to make himself immortal.No matter what the cost.Stage right, enter NATASHA MOROZOV. A normal girl with normal friends, who goes to a normal school up in the icy mountains of boring, old Oregon. As Christmas break ends, an old rumor resurfaces with a missing student to boot! Natasha could imagine that this new semester would be different than the last one.What's supposed to be a fun pseudo-investigation with two friends in the woods takes a turn for the worst. Investigating an old rumor is one thing, but finding out your school is part of a year-old conspiracy? That's a whole 'nother level!Who are Mark Jackson and Nathaniel Stone? What is Golden Oaks Academy hiding? How does Triumvirate Holdings tie in with all this?Too many questions, too little time. Natasha should hurry up with the investigation. Nobody knows how long they have before the frost sets in.
Series: Children of the Gods [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2052471
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Frostbite

**Author's Note:**

> And the curtain opens on the stage of stupidity
> 
> This has been in the microwave for five years, so I think that's enough time to let it stay there.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremiah's looking pretty suspicious in Natasha's eyes while Joshua is just here to have a good time.
> 
> ACT 1: HIDDEN SOMETHING TRAGIC
> 
> "Only you can control your future.”  
>  \- Dr. Suess

**A QUIET CHATTER** permeates the chilly air of the classroom. The front desk is empty, the teacher having to excuse themselves early to attend a family emergency. Some students have gotten out of their seats to chat with their friends while others busied themselves with more schoolwork or other similar activities.

All the while one blonde girl looked over the class with a critical gaze.

Natasha sighs, leaning her head against her hand. Idly, she plays with the end of her braid—since the teacher was absent, the duty of maintaining peace naturally falls upon her, the vice-president of the classroom, as the blonde girl does not trust their president one bit.

Speaking of the class president, the brunet bastard’s walking towards her right now.

_Amazing._

“What d’you want?” Natasha snapped. A scowl crept on her face as Jeremiah sits at the empty desk in front of her, the previous inhabitant talking with friends. She glanced down behind him, and sure enough, his long coat fanned behind him, almost touching the ground.

She looks back at his face and Jeremiah’s grin widens, there’s a glint in his grey-blue eyes that Natasha’s beginning to be wary of (probably should have expected it when the brunet started sauntering towards her with a smile on his face). He mimics her pose, a flare of annoyance rising in the blonde girl that makes her grit her teeth.

“Stop stalling, Stone, now get on with it!” She snidely remarks, fingernails tapping on the wooden desk angrily in a succeeding manner. The Asian teen stopped mimicking her, now just sitting and staring at her with a weird expression. He shrugs.

“Well, I was hopefully wondering if you knew any new gossip going around?” He asked, crossing his arms over the back of the chair and leaning into it.

That got her attention. ' _New rumors?'_ She thought to herself, confused. “What do you mean by, ‘new gossip’?” She asks him, scoffing a bit at the notion. “Anything that’s been through the rumor mill at this place is certain to be something shitty.”

Jeremiah grins, then shrugs once more. “Welp, can’t blame you for that one,” He tells her, tilting his head to the side. “Remember that rumor of Marina and I getting into another fight?”

Natasha snorts, looking at the brunet amused. “Of course,” She replies, “Who wouldn’t? You were confused as fuck when people began following you after school’s out. Marina even more so.” The blonde girl let out a small chuckle, “Good times,”

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Natasha sobers up; eyes narrowing at Jeremiah as the smile doesn’t leave his face. “What are you planning?” She asks, lips pulling into a straight line.

Jeremiah cocks his head to the side, the smile looking a bit unnerving to her. “What makes you say that?” He retorts, the easy-going tone giving her goosebumps.

The blonde girl shrugs, body relaxed but her mind is going a mile per minute with how odd Jeremiah’s acting. “Oh, I don’t know,” She tells him, looking aloof for a moment before scowling at the brunet. “Your track record isn’t that fucking great, Stone. How about that one time back in 4th grade, when you first transferred here, you almost had the old gymnasium’s roof collapsed on top of us when we were doing a clean-up drive there.” He looks a bit taken aback and frowns, opening his mouth to retort.

“Natasha—”

“—Or that one time you pissed off Marina back in 5th grade leading up to both of you being stuck in the infirmary for at least a week because of a stupid bet you had with Joshua —”

“—Oi, that was uncalled for and we both apologized to each other for that incident, it was his fault in the first place too! And I apologized again for almost burning the—"

“—Or that other time where you managed to rope Marina into another scheme of yours last school year and almost burned down the gym, yes. Or that other time—”

“Okay, Natasha! I get it!” The brunet hissed at her, cheeks blushing red with embarrassment as the other students began curiously looking on at their exchange. He scowls at them and turns to her as she smugly smiles, happy with his annoyance.

“I love you Jer, really do,” She tells him, cheerfully. “But I’m not getting roped into another wacky ass plan that could get me kicked out of school.”

Jeremiah sighs before standing up. The smile is back, though it looked wearier than anything malicious. _‘Odd’_ Natasha thought, _‘but okay.’_

“Fine,” He said exasperatedly, running a hand through his brown curls. “If you’re not gonna help me this time around, I’ll just ask Marina,” With that, he turned around and went back to his desk.

 _‘Fucking drama queen,’_ Natasha thought, amused seeing Jeremiah dragging his feet a bit as he walks. _‘Still, hope you succeed in whatever whacky plan you have in mind this time, Stone,’_

“Gods!” Micah bemoaned. Natasha glanced at the dark-haired girl as she shivers underneath the thick jacket she wears, which Natasha takes note of.

“You okay, Micah?” The blonde girl asks, turning in her chair to face the other girl. Micah shakes her head, her hair swishing around as she does.

“F–f–f–fu–fuck no!” She says, her teeth chattering. “It’s–it’s so–s–so go–d–d–da–da–damn cold!” she growled a bit. The dark-haired girl muttered something under her breath that the blonde didn’t catch.

Natasha frowned at that. “What do you mean?” She asked, confused. “The room isn’t that cold,” Micah shot the blonde girl a ‘What the hell dude, are you serious?’ expression.

“Y–yo–you s–su–sure you’re okay, N–na–na–nat?” The dark-haired girl asked her, “Th–the room’s tem–temperature is fucked and the school hasn’t been able to f–fi–fix the he–he–heaters yet since last We–wed–wednesday!”

The blonde girl visibly freezes. _‘What the fuck’_ She thought to herself, pulling the jacket she wore closer to her body despite the temperature of the room still not affecting her. Out of the corner of her eye, Jeremiah perks up from his seat. Natasha can feel the brunet bastard looking at them curiously.

“Really?” Natasha replied, voice weak. Micah nodded, rubbing her hands together. _‘Probably to get more heat,’_ Natasha thought, her fingers twitched subconsciously as the other girl continued the action.

“I ho–ho–hope they’ll f–f–f–fi–fix the heater so–so–so–soon,” The dark-haired girl sneezed then shivered. Natasha pities the girl, it sucks having sensitive skin.

The bell rang, making Natasha jump. _‘Class is over? Already? That was quick,’_ she thought. The blonde girl got up, her school supplies tucked neatly into her bag as she didn’t see it fit fiddling with school work when she could finish it later in her dorm room.

She walked over to Micah’s desk, pulling a face as the other girl wipes the snot from her nose with her glove. Wordlessly, Natasha brings out a packet of tissues and hands it to the dark-haired girl. Micah smiles, “Thanks,” She tells her, taking the tissues and wiped her nose with them.

“So, what’s with you and Jeremiah earlier?” Micah asked as they stepped out of the classroom. Natasha looked at the other girl deadpanned.

“Seriously?” She asked, incredulously. “Out of all the things you can ask, you ask _that_.”

Micah puts her hands out in surrender, shrugging as a smile tugs at her lips. “Hey!” The dark-haired girl retorted, placing her hands on her hips as they stepped aside. “It’s not my fault you two looked like you were flirting!” Natasha looks disgusted, which made Micah laugh.

“Me? _with Jeremiah_?” Natasha shivers in disgust. “ _Eugh_ , I’d rather fight a _dragon_ than imagine him and I being in a relationship.” Micah’s smile never fades, her eyes wiggling suggestively as they continue walking.

“Of course, of course,” Micah said nonchalantly, “How can I forget that big fat crush you have on Jo—“

“Who? Who has a big fat crush on who now?”

Before Natasha smacks Micah against the head for her transgression against best friend etiquette, a brunette butts in the conversation. Her reddish-brown hair is tied up in an intricate hairstyle and her hazel eyes twinkle with amusement. Natasha smiles at the newcomer as Micah sighs in relief.

“Karma!” Micah gleefully says. Natasha grumbles under her breath as she sidesteps away from the main throng of students so as to not get caught in school traffic. “Thank god you’re here! Thanks for saving me from Natasha’s lectures.” the aforementioned girl shot Micah a warning look, making both her and Karma laugh good-naturedly.

The older girl hooked her arms around the arms of Micah and Natasha; half-dragging, half-leading them to the cafeteria. “Now that reunion is done, a brand new rumor surfaced and I’m dying to tell you what it is!” Natasha smiled crookedly. “Don’t tell us and rot then,” the blonde girl retorted, Micah snickered as Karma shot her an annoyed look.

“Hopefully it’s better than that rumor about Mr. Filch’s cat, Norris,” Micah says. “Can’t believe we believed that she was dead for a week!”

The trio walked inside the cafeteria, still linked together. They stood by the side of the double doors, looking around the big room and scanning the area for potential seats.

“How about there?” The dark-haired girl asked, pointing to an empty table right next to a table hosting only one girl with dark brown—almost black—hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing an old gray hoodie over what seems to be the casual version of the uniforms.

Natasha pulled a face, “I like Marina but considering that Jeremiah usually sits with her during lunchtime, despite that big fight they had back in mid–November, it kinda would be awkward….” Natasha trailed off.

Karma shrugs. “I guess,” The older girl replies; she jutted her chin towards the direction of an empty table at the edge of the room, a few tables down where Marina is sitting.

“There! It’s the perfect place to sit and it’s right near the windows!” The older girl says, Natasha snorted.

“Great, we’re going to have an amazing view of the frozen lake outside. Truly a wondrous image that should be seen by many.” The blonde girl quips, a smile tugging at her lips.

Micah frowns, “What is it with you and windows, you always like to sit near th—whOA—“ Before they could complain even more, Karma dragged them towards the vacant table.

Micah and Natasha exchanged amused looks.

They sat down pretty quickly, rearranging their bags under the table to accommodate the trio’s legs. “So, about that rumor,” Natasha asked.

Karma raised an eyebrow. “Since when are you interested in the gossip mill? I thought you said, and I quote, _‘That shit’s stupid, get that out of my face’_ unquote.”

Natasha scowled, “I still think that _but—_ ”

Karma looks at her expectantly, urging her to continue. “Yes, but?” she asked.

The blonde sighed, sagging a bit in her chair. “Jeremiah asked me earlier if any new rumors were roaming around, which I found odd.” she leaned her head against the palm of her hand. “Why the heck is he asking me for rumors?! Out of everyone in the class, I’m the only one who doesn’t give a shit about what the latest gossip is!” She let out a frustrated groan before burying her face in her crossed arms. Micah and Karma exchanged looks.

“Erm, ‘Tasha?” Karma asked, poking the top of the blonde girl’s head. “Still wanna get food?” Natasha groaned in reply.

“I’m guessing that’s a no…” Micah said, chuckling awkwardly as she scratches her cheek.

“I’ll watch over her if you’re going to go get food,” Natasha blushed, recognizing the owner of the voice. _‘Oh shit, oh no, fuck not now,’_ she screamed internally, steeling her resolve to not lookup.

Natasha hears Karma let out a relieved sigh and silently plots her revenge.

“Joshua! Thank god you’re here,” Karma said. Natasha can imagine hazel-brown eyes glinting in amusement at seeing her predicament; Natasha felt rather than see Joshua sitting next to him, she blushed even more.

“What?” she heard him ask the two girls, obviously confused. _‘The fuck are they doing now?’_ Naiara thought, frowning a bit.

“Nothing!~ Take care of ‘Tasha, kay? We still need the Ice Queen in one piece.” Karma called out to him, Natasha can hear Micah’s protests as the two walked farther away from the table. Natasha continues to silently scheme; she’s stuck in this situation because of those two fuckin idiots. _‘I’m doomed’_ Natasha bemoaned in her head.

Natasha felt something poking at her side. She lifted her head a bit, glaring at Joshua, who blinked rapidly. “Oh, you’re awake,” he said, smiling a bit. “I was going to ask you if you’d come with me to get food when Karma and Micah got theirs.”

The blonde girl hummed in reply, laying her head sideways on her crossed arms so that she can still see Joshua. “Is that a yes or a no?” he prompted, leaning his head against his knuckles. Natasha shrugged, acting nonchalant. The brunet smiled, something that didn’t make her heart skip a beat no sirreee. “I’ll take that as a yes,”

Natasha shrugged again, eyes lazily moving from Joshua to Karma and Micah as the two girls walked towards them, both holding their tray filled with food. “I guess,” she replied, sitting up as the other girls sat down.

“Tell me all about that new rumor of yours later,” Natasha told Karma, who’s eyes widened a fraction in surprise. “ _after_ I get my food,” the older girl nodded, the two began eating as Natasha and Joshua made their way to the food line.  
The blonde girl checked her wallet, making sure her school card was in there.

“Got your card?” Joshua asked, flashing his plastic card.

It was a pseudo credit card with a seemingly unlimited balance that the school gives out to the students during orientation. They always say that it’s for documentation purposes about the students eating habits and other stuff related to healthy spending blah **blah _blah_** —frankly, Natasha finds it odder that they don’t pay anything here but they’re getting a lot of these cool stuff for free, and not the fact that the school gives pseudo credit cards with a balance to students just because they can. Where did they even get the money for it?!!

Natasha huffed as she got hers out, “Of course, doofus.” she flashed him the same plastic card, her name and school ID number engraved with gold on the pseudo-credit card. Joshua flashed her a toothy grin, handing her a food tray before looking at the selection of dishes laid out behind the curved glass, his own food tray in hand.

“What’cha gonna have for lunch?” The brunet boy asked her, before pointing at a meal that looks spicy and talking to the lady behind the counter.

Natasha pulled a face at that. “Definitely not that,” She murmured, eyes scanning the food. There’s isn’t much that looks appetizing to her, so she’ll probably settle for another burger.

Joshua side-eyes her as they move up the line. “You’re not thinking to just eat burgers again,” He said, giving her a pointed look as he glanced at the burger that she'd been eyeing.

Natasha frowns, “I’m not hungry,” She told him, pointing to the plate. “Can I have this, please?” The lady nodded, flashing her a smile before getting a burger; she handed her the plate, which the blonde girl took, carefully placing it on her tray.

Natasha turned to Joshua, sticking her tongue out, much to the brunet’s annoyance. The blonde glanced at his tray, seeing a bowl of spicy noodles and a bowl of rice next to it. “Spicy noodles again?” She raised an eyebrow, “That’s the fifth time this week! Hypocrite!”

“Hey!” Joshua said, moving up the line and accepting the tall plastic cup of iced tea. “At least it has more nutrients than that weak-ass burger!”

Natasha scowled as she took her own cup of iced tea. “Shut up, brainiac, burgers are great!”

They continued bickering back to their table.

“When’s the wedding?” Micah drily asks as the two sat across them.

Joshua blushed as Natasha scowled, “Shut up,” The blonde grouses, biting angrily into her burger.

“I can practically hear the wedding bells!” Karma swooned, giving them a toothy grin. 

“You shut up too,” Natasha grumbled, taking another angry bite.

“Eating spicy noodles five times a week isn’t healthy for you,” Micah chided, eyeing the bowl on Joshua’s tray. 

The brunet boy scowled at her, “I eat what I want, you’re not my mom,” He paused, then turned to the side, his cheeks blooming red. The table fell silent.

Awkward air settled in-between them, the chatter inside the cafeteria swallowing up their silence. Karma opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the room falling quiet, the group turned to the doors, seeing Jeremiah there.

“Speak of the devil, and he shall appear,” Natasha overhead from the table behind them, from the corner of her eye, she sees Joshua scowl. _‘He probably heard it too.’_ She thought, frowning a little.

_“Why is he here?”_

_“Isn’t he supposed to be banned from the cafeteria?”_

_“That was just a rumor, you idiot!”_

_“Why is he walking towards Jackson? Didn’t they have a big fight recently?”_

_“Shut up dumbass! People can hear you!”_

Karma sighs, massaging her temples. “I feel like a headache’s coming up with all the stupid shit I’m hearing,” The brunette mutters angrily, side-eyeing the students who were gossiping about the grey-eyed boy. Natasha agrees.

Micah frowns, “I don’t like Jer that much but sheesh,” she winces as she hears another comment about her classmate, seeing as he’s walking towards their general direction.

“This is too much,” Natasha nods. Karma sighs, slouching. “Poor kid,” She comments, Natasha saw him sat in front of Marina. “He doesn’t deserve this much hate. Surprised that he can take those whispers with stride.”

Beside her, Joshua swore and deflated. “Hasn’t he been through enough?” He grumbled. Natasha had to strain her ears to properly hear it.

Karma coughs, getting everyone’s attention. She wrings her fingers together, Natasha glanced back to her face, “So, about that rumor earlier,” The brunette started, “I’m not really sure where it even began, to be honest.”

“Aren’t all rumors like that, anyway?” Micah grumbled, looking bored. Karma shot the younger girl an annoyed look, “Yes, but you have to remember that this one’s serious.” Natasha snorted, “Ooh~,” Joshua said, wiggling his fingers. “ _Scary~~_ ”

“Is it about Keith and Lance finally getting together?” Natasha asked, tilting her head to the side.

Micah’s eyes widened, “They did?!” The blonde nodded.

“Or are you going to tell us that the Illuminati’s real and the apocalypse is upon us?” Joshua asked, eyes sparkling in excitement.

“Do you want me to actually tell it or not?” Karma asked, annoyed.

Joshua coughed and sobered. “Uh..erm, yeah, please! I er, um—continue!” 

Karma gestured for them to come closer, she leaned in and said in a hushed voice, “So, there was this rumor of a student in your grade going missing one day when he wandered into the woods—”

“That’s not a rumor,” Natasha said, frowning. “That actually happened.”

Karma gave her a look. “I was getting to the rumor part, ‘Tasha, chill,” The blonde girl rolled her eyes and gestured to the brunette to continue.

“Anyways, as I was saying before I was _rudely_ interrupted—” Natasha scowled at that, “—the kid, Dwayne Johnson, remember him?” The three nodded, “He wandered into the woods one day and went missing for a week back in November right? Before the police announced that he’s probably dead—”

“Why are we discussing this anyway? We already knew that—that was the talk of the school for a month remember? Before it died down,” Micah asked, “Is it important to the rumor?” Karma’s left eyebrow twitched, obviously annoyed. Natasha glanced at Micah, signaling her to stop. The dark-haired girl does so, chuckling sheepishly. “Oh, sorry! Continue, continue.”

“As I was _saying_ —apparently, another kid went missing last week.”

“When we got back to school,” Natasha murmured, Karma nodded. “I heard about that through my cousin, Gonzalo,” Micah said, lightly pounding her palm as realization struck her.

“This time around, it’s a 7th grader. What’s worse, they found most of his body in the woods.”

The three shared a perturbed glance. “What do you mean by most?” Joshua asked, “Is he….er….y’know….” he cringed as he made a gesture, dragging a finger across his neck

After a few beats, Karma nods. “And by most,” Micah shivers, “what did you mean by that.” Karma took a deep breath as if preparing herself for the worst of it, Natasa does not like that thought.

“Poor kid got ripped apart,” _‘What the **fuck** ’_ “detached limbs strewn about the area, from what I heard when I snooped around. What’s worse? They couldn’t find his organs, kid had his eyes stolen too. His torso was empty when they found it, just, there literally was nothing there.” Karma let out a nervous chuckle as she said this 

Micah looked almost ready to puke, and Natasha felt like she’ll follow soon after; a quick glance to her left and saw Joshua looking like he’d seen the devil himself.

“Oh fuck, you weren’t kidding,” she whispered, feeling a bit faint. _‘Is it just me, or did the entire lunchroom go quiet?’_ She mused to herself, her grip on her jacket tightening ever so slightly.

“But that wasn’t the worst part!” Karma said, looking far too excited for the blonde’s tastes. “I overheard from the teachers earlier that the kid’s body was _gone_. Apparently, it disappeared the day after they discovered it.”

“I don’t like where this is going…” Joshua murmured, Natasha noticed his hands went clammy. “The reason why I’m telling you this,” Karma said, eyes lighting up with excitement. “Is that we’re going to find that kid’s missing body.”

“No,” Natasha hissed, slamming her hand on the table and earning them a few looks from the tables around them. Natasha noticed that Marina was looking at them curiously, definitely something that she could’ve avoided shit.

She steeled herself, not letting the curious gazes of her peers faze her. “We are not going out in the freezing cold to chase a half-baked rumor that could may or may not get us _killed_.”

Karma had the decency to fucking pout. Natasha felt like she might, _might_ actually punch the brunette’s face right now.

“But Natasha,” She whined, Natasha has half the mind to just place her freezing hands on Karma’s face.

“No, and that’s _final_.” The blonde replied heatedly, eyes flaring “I would like to _live_ , thank you very much.”

Joshua chuckled, scratching his cheek sheepishly. “I—I actually want to join with her, Nat.”

The blonde’s head whipped to face the brunet so fast that it looks like it almost flew from her neck. “ _WHAT?!_ ”

The brunet placed his hands in front of him, in a surrender position. “Nat, chill! It’s just a rumor anyway!” Natasha grabbed Joshua by the front of his shirt and stared him down.

She didn’t see Karma’s and Micah’s jaws drop in shock in front of them. “Barton, that _rumor_ started when _two_ —and I repeat, **_two teenagers_** went fucking _missing_ and turned out **_dead_** , or do I have to remind you that _their bodies are still **missing**_?”

Joshua chuckles nervously, sweat dripping down his face despite the cold as he returns Natasha’s stare. He didn’t get to reply as the bell rang. Natasha clicked her tongue and released the brunet from her hold, who sighed in relief.

Karma coughed awkwardly, trying to disperse the uncomfortable air between the four of them. “Um...if you still want to join me, Joshua, meet up at the fountain later today,” She said sheepishly, avoiding Natasha’s gaze.

Micah chuckled, “I’ll pass,” She says, “I have cheer practice later and Ms. Wilson will be _pissed_ if I missed another day of practice.” Karma smiled brightly and clapped as if Natasha hadn’t threatened them with bodily harm to not follow the rumor that could definitely get them killed.

“Okay!” The brunette says, standing up and shouldering her bag. The others did so too, carrying their respective trays as well. “That settles it, see you guys tomorrow! Don’t be late Joshua!” and with that, the senior walked away.

Natasha sighed, grumbling under her breath as she, Joshua, and Micah head to their next class. “You two are both idiots,” She groused, scowling at the brunet.

“Hey, it’s not like Karma and I would actually find the thing that’s killing them!” Joshua said, trying to remain upbeat. Natasha glared at him, making him laugh sheepishly. “I mean—what are the statistics of that happening!”

“I’d say you have a 0.25% chance of that happening,” Micah says nonchalantly as she opens her locker. Natasha narrowed her eyes at Micah, confused and a little bit perturbed, “That’s not….that much off,” She murmured to herself as she gathers the books she’ll need for the next three classes (luckily, the last three classes of the day). “How’d you know that Micah, I thought you were bad at math?”

From the corner of her eye, Natasha could see Micah stiffen and slightly glanced around. ‘Odd,’ The blonde noted, closing her locker door and once again shouldering her bag.

“I—I was just reviewing stuff again since y’know, school’s back and all,” the dark-haired girl let out a nervous chuckle, one of her hands fiddling with the longest strand in her short hair. Natasha raised an eyebrow but didn’t press any further.

“Can’t believe we’ll have to go through recap lessons in math again!” Joshua complained as they weaved through the throng of students. “Science and history? Easy stuff, great stuff—but math? Hell no! Who even invented math!”

Natasha opened her mouth to answer, but bit her tongue when her attention was caught by a familiar mop of dark brown hair turning around a corner and walking into a more secluded hallway; a hallway, and based on her memories, leads to the exit at the back of the school, directly facing the woods. _‘The fuck’s Jeremiah doing?’_ Natasha thought, frowning.

“—I mean like, Mr. Lero Ro is a great math teacher, no joke man—but damn, math is hard as _fuck_ and no matter how many times—”

“Hey Joshua,” Natasha said, touching his arm, who had stopped his story to look at the blonde curiously. “You and Micah go on ahead, I have something to do,” He frowned, seeming to hesitate a bit. ‘Probably racking his brain for something,’ Natasha muses before Joshua nodded.

“Sure! If it’s alright with Micah then it’s alright with me!” He beamed, Natasha idly thought if she might need sunglasses every time the giant puppy smiles.

“Continue that story, man, I wanna know how’d you found out Mr. Lero Ro and Mr. Quant were dating!” Micah said, siding up next to Joshua. She sent Natasha a smile and a thumbs-up. Natasha had smiled back at Micah, to the dark-haired girl’s surprise, which she silently takes note of. The blonde turned around and hastily followed Jeremiah before she lost him.

  
“Where is he,” She murmured, peeking out of the corner and looking around. “Gods, I think this may be the worst decision I’ve made to date,” Natasha sighed and took a turn to the left, where the hallway leads to the exit. “Welp, no regrets, Morozov, no regrets.”

She froze when she heard footsteps behind her.

She looked around, finding a place to hide. _‘Shit, shit shit shit!’_ She paused, seeing an open locker, and dove in. Natasha suppressed a gag when she smelled the insides of the locker. _‘Oh fuck,’_ She thought when she felt something squishy underneath her shoe, the rancid smell wafting up. She scrunched up her nose. _‘Who the fuck left their rotten lunch here!’_

There was someone muttering outside, Natasha sucked in a gasp and prayed that the person outside hadn’t heard her. Her eyes widened when Jeremiah pass by the grill and passed by it again. “Fuck,” She whispered.

Jeremiah stopped and stared right at her through the grill. Natasha held her breath when the brunet moved closer to the locker, eyes narrowing. “I know you’re in there,” He said. The handle of the locker fidgeted a bit, Natasha quietly pulling on it so that it won’t budge.

After a few minutes, the late bell rang and Jeremiah backed off. Natasha couldn’t see properly but she knew the brunet was frowning before he walked away.

Natasha let out a breath and chuckled nervously under her breath. “Fuck that was stressful,” She whispered to herself, she slowly opened the locker door and quickly got out.  
She looked at the soles of her boots and sighed in relief when she saw there wasn’t anything stuck to it, “Thank god,” She grumbled, before darting off the general direction Jeremiah went.

“Damn it,” The blonde swore under her breath as she saw the brunet walk out of the building. Without thinking, she hastened her steps and peered through the frosted glass.

Out there, in the middle of the parking lot, stood Marina Jackson in all of her chill glory. She was talking to Jeremiah, seemingly angry.

“What’re they doing?” Natasha murmured, squinting her eyes a bit and trying to make out their conversation but reading lips is sadly not one of her strong suits. Jeremiah looked like he was defending himself as Marina stared at him with crossed arms, probably unimpressed by his explanation.

Before she could make out what they were talking about, someone tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She jumped, turning around, eyes wide, seeing Filte’s old face greeting her with a scowl. His cat, Mr. Norris, was by his feet, peering at her with its creepy glowy eyes that always unnerves Natasha. 

“Wha’ya keep loiterin’ round here brat!” Natasha winced at the reprimand, the old man’s harsh accent making her cringe. Mr. Norris yowled at the blonde. “Didn’ya hear the bell? Now scram!”

She does so, quickly ducking and moving away from the cranky old janitor. She sneaked a glance back right before she turns a corner, just to see if Mr. Filte saw Marina and Jeremiah loitering in the parking lot.

The blonde let out a disappointed tongue. click when Filte opened the doors and the two were nowhere to be seen as if they disappeared into thin air. 

  
Natasha arrived just in time for class, not late but not early either.

She sighed as she sat down beside Joshua, who gave her a worried glance. She waved him off before pulling out the spare notebook she always kept in her bag.

She glanced at the table a few seats down from hers that was notably absent, the student who sat there lounging around somewhere in the woods at this very moment.

 _‘How he’s still the top student despite not being in class half the time astounds me,’_ The blonde thought, half-heartedly tapping her fingers on the table until the door to the classroom opened and their Social Studies teacher appear.

The class stood up and greeted the teacher as soon as he walked in. “Good morning class,” Mr. Busiris smiled at them, Natasha felt a chill run up her spine when the blue-haired man glanced at her. Soon, he began teaching.

Social Studies is easy, talking about bygone eras and the ‘Golden Age’ of civilization bored her since it’s just a rehash of what they’ve learned last school year.

“And today, class, we’re going to continue our talk about the Greco-Roman Pantheon—our previous topic was all about the entire Greek pantheon along with the many minor gods; now, who can tell me all 12 of the Olympians?” Mr. Busiris said. 

Natasha wasn’t really paying any attention as she scribbled something in her notebook. “Wonderful, Aisel, thank you for your answer. Anyone else?”

She hadn’t realized she zoned out until her ear pricked when hearing the name, “—Heracles, or Hercules as you may know him, is the son of Zeus and whom?” Just as Natasha looked up, Mr. Busiris was staring right at her with that unnerving smile of his “Ah, yes, Ms. Morozov, would you like to answer.”

Joshua gave her a thumbs up for assurance as she stood up, “Uh……” Natasha racked her brain, trying to remember the name of the woman. ' _Alice? Alceyeon? Al—Al—'_

“Yes, Ms. Morozov?” Mr. Busiris asked, one eyebrow raised, “Your answer, please?” The blonde girl had to force herself not to scowl, but her left eye did twitch in annoyance.

“Alcmene, Hercules’ mother is Alcmene.” The blue-haired man seemed satisfied with her answer, though Natasha swears that the man was glaring at her, and let her sit back down. The blonde blinked then frowned, finding the exchange odd.

 _She_ felt odd.

She stared at her hands, opening and closing them as she silently thinks things over. Natasha turns to Joshua and is taken back when the brunet is shivering like crazy.

“Hey, hey Joshua,” The brunet turned to her, Natasha frowned in worry.

The brunet had the decency to try and grin at her, despite his shivering form. “Y-yea?” He asked, the blonde opened her mouth before closing it, then shook her head. “ ‘Tasha?” He prompted, she sighed and side-eyes him.

“Later,” She mouths, before quickly going back to scribbling when she noticed Mr. Busiris glance at them.

  
“So, what was that all about?” Joshua asked as they walked to their next class, World Languages. Natasha scrunched up her face in annoyance as they avoided students.

Micah wasn’t with them this time, the dark-haired girl having chosen Spanish while she and Joshua chose French—mainly for convenience’s sake as she already knows the language, unsure about Joshua’s reason though.

Speaking of…

”So, did you change your mind about our ‘expedition’?” The brunet wriggled his eyebrows for emphasis, Natasha held back the urge to smack him and opted to flick her companion on the forehead. The blonde girl refuses to admit that the pout Joshua has as he stared at her was endearing of any kind.

“What you and Karma are going to do is hardly an ‘expedition’ to begin with,” Natasha says, rolling her eyes. “But…”

“Mhm, yes but?” Joshua prompted, smiling widely. The blonde sighs, defeated by the sunshine smile.

“I saw Jeremiah earlier with Marina, just before Mr. Busiris’s class,” Natasha told him in a hushed voice, “I don’t know where they were going exactly but they look like they were heading to the forest,”

Joshua whistled, “I am very impressed,” He commented, “I didn’t know you had a criminal bone in your body, Morozov,” Natasha rolled her eyes again as they went up the stairs and up to the second floor. “Sneaking around and following Jeremiah of all people? _Wow_.”

“Careful with the bark, Barton, you’re not a dog,” Natasha drily says. “And also fuck you, I’ve been in trouble before asshole,” Joshua raises his hands in mock surrender but his amused expression said otherwise.

“Okay, okay,” He says, placatingly and with that infuriating smile that Natasha wants to rub off his face. “Let’s just say I believe you,” Joshua says, definitely not believing her. “I mean, it’s not the only time Jeremiah sneaks out of class. You do know he has done that before, right?”

Natasha let out an aggravated sigh as she pushed open the door of their French 101 classes. “Yes, Joshua, I know. Fat load of work that little shit pushed towards me, ugh.” They took a seat near the end of the rows of desks, particularly near the window.

“What I mean is, he’s with Marina this time around,” Natasha murmurs, stroking her non-existent beard in thought. “Last I heard, those two had a serious fight and haven't been in speaking terms since mid–November.”

Joshua modded at that. “That’s true,” The brunet added, “Jeremiah had been venting to me how much insufferable Marina was being. I guess Levinne was getting the same treatment too since she nods apologetically to me when we pass by each other.”

“Fair point,” Natasha says, shrugging. “but I still think something’s fishy going on.”

Joshua shrugs too, “Eh, true…” he then smiles, “So...is that all you were going to tell me?”

Natasha mulled it over again, unsure whether or not it’d be worth it.

…

 _‘Ah, fuck it,’_ Natasha swore in her head and then looked straight into Joshua’s curious hazel eyes.

“I want to join you guys later,”

Joshua tried very hard not to crack a smile, failing miserably as he practically vibrates in his seat. _‘I’m already regretting this,’_ Natasha thoughts as she grimaces.


End file.
